Imprdvement in stop-dams for canals



` j f UNITiiio` STATES To all whom it may concern: i r i Be-it known that I, ISAAC KNAPP, of the village ofll/ledinafin the county ot" Orleans and State oi New York, have invented a new and Improved Stop-D am and `Gates and Gage- `Gratesto `Dam Up and Stop the `NVaterin Canals and Artificial VatenCourses and to Gageand Regulate the Tater Therein; and l I do hereby declarethat the following is a full and exact description,`

The nature of myinvention consists in providing' a structure which may be readily moved across a canal or artificial water-cou rse atright angles with theprism, reaching from bank to bank orside to side and faced or top `of the structure down to as near the bottomas-maybethoughtprudent, and all the space below' the ceiling is to be closed by means of gates, which aretol be raised or let down by means of screws, that when such structure is placed across the canal or artifi* y `cial water-course and the gates closed it will i ei'tectually dam up and stop the flow of water, and by placing the gates at any desired elel vation and `ceiling upbelow and raising and I letting them down by means of the screw, as aforesaid, the height of the water may be regulated and xedand Vany desired depth secured, andthe gage-gates, detached from the "stop-dam, canbe usedproiitably and with advantage inv the construction ofiwaste-weirs..

To enable others skilled in the art to make rand `use myinvention,"I will d proceed to describe its construction and operation. y I construct my structure by having two part allel rows of posts `of suitable height, standf `ing alittleinclined inward from aV perpendicular, being inclinedfrom the base upward and inward.` `The posts are set equidistant )from each other, and the ent-ire length of the structure is the width" of the channel where `it is to beused.` Each line of posts is framed together by a sufficientnumber of lparallel andmagnitudeofthefstructure. These parallel rows of posts are to beput at a'suitable distance apart and framed substantially together bymeansof crossvbeams and braces, one beam being framed and placed at the top "of the postsand the other near the bottom, "and two braces used between each two oppoceiled on itsouter 'sideswith plank from the girts, the number `depending upon the height PATENT Orme..

"IsAAcKNAPP, or MEDINA, New YORK.

1iMdPRoi/EMENTINSTOP-DAMS FOR cANALs.

`Specificationforming part of Letters Patent No. 35,212, dated May 13, 1862.

site posts, each being framed into one and the other in the other of the angles formed by thel posts and lower cross-beams, and then running diagonally across and being framed into the upper angles formed by the posts and upper cross-beams. The upper crossbeanls are to project beyond the posts a sufficient distance to receive and support the plates,` and upon them is to be placed on each side aplate ruiming lengthwise thereof and extending from one end to the ,other of the structure.` Gommencing on each outer side of the structure, at a `proper height from the bottom thereof, the same is to be planked or ceiled fromsuch point down to within such distance from the bottom as may be thought advisable, everything being taken into consideration in determining where the planking or ceiling shall stop. The entire space below is to be closed by means of gates, which are to be raised and lowered bythe use of screws thereto attached, being connected with a swivel or similar connection, so as to render them perfectly serviceable in the use intended.

The gates are to be kept open while moving the structure across a canal or artificiali water-course to relieve the stop-dam from the pressure of water in part and closed when cial water-courses.

The stopt-dam and gates, when constructed and complete in 'the manner hereinbefore specified, are to be used in the following manner: If in a canal, an opening is to be cut into the ber1nebank,of the same length as the canal is wide, then heavy ties are to be firmly embedded into the canal bottom and side opening, and then there is to be placed across the canal and into the side opening, at right angles with the ties, two mud-sills having their upper sides on a level4 with canal'bottom and their inside faces protected by iron bars or straps strongly bolted to the timber. `Immediately on the inside of the mud-sills are to be placed rails forming a track for the structure or stop-dam and gates like a railroadftrack. the posts in the structure is to be iixed a strong iron wheel, and adjusted to the track Then in the bottom of each of aforesaid, and at eaeh end of the structure and on eaoli side is to be placed diagonally an iron plate to clear the track of obstrnc tions.

When tbe struotu re is Complete, it is to be placed upon the track, formed as aforesaid, and is to be moved across the canal and into the side out by means of a rope, pulley, and eapstan, the wheels resting' upon the track.

On the drawings the ties are indicated by the letter a, the mud-sills by the letter b, the track by the letter c, the posts bythe letter el, the Wheels by the letter e, the girts by the letter f, the cross-beams by tbe letter g, the 

